Well we really are starting to get to the nitty gritty of the Wimbledon championships now as we approach the quarters final for the men and on Day 8 we had the ladies quarter final matches on, so here is more on that and the men's remaining 4th round matches.
So starting off with Serena Williams who took the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, and it promised to be quite a tough encounter, however despite a few tough moments in the 2nd set, Serena pretty much made short work of Petra, as she broke her in the 1st set, and in the 2nd made the decisive break at 6-5 to close out for a place in the semi finals, with a 6-3, 7-5 win. The match itself didn't get going here until the 2nd set, but when it did there were some great shots from both players, but it was Serena who proved too good in the end, and you always knew she would come through, and she is well on course for reaching another Wimbledon final.
In the 2nd match of the day we had the two German girls, Angelique Kerber, the current World No.8 and Sabine Lisicki, the 15th seed. This promised to be quite an encounter and it turned out to be just that, with both girls battling it out on court, and after losing the first set, Lisicki fought her way back into the match, taking the 2nd set on a tiebreak. In the 3rd set the two ladies shared breaks of serve, but it was Kerber who made the decisive move and managed to break to finish out the match, after a real scrap in 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. As Angelique Kerber had never even reached beyond the first round at Wimbledon last year (who was defeated by Laura Robson no less last year!) she really has made up for it this year, and she continues her incredible rise towards the top of the rankings, although whether or not she wins the title or not is still doubtful, as there are few other ladies in play too.
And going on to the third match of the day between the former World No.1, Victoria Azarenka and the in-form Eastbourne champion, Tamira Paszek. This was a rematch of their quarter final match from last year, but this time it was a much tighter affair, as after being broken once in the 1st set by Azarenkna, Paszek fought back to push the match to a 2nd set tiebreak. However in the tiebreak, despite being an immediate minibreak up, Tamira squandered her lead, and let Vika back in who sealed the victory with a 6-3, 7-6(4) score. So this will be Azarenka's second semi final at Wimbledon, however she will face Serena Williams in the next round, so it remains doubtful whether or not she can get past the four time champion or not, but it promises to be quite a match.
And finally on the ladies matches we had Agnieszka Radwanska who up against the Russian, Maria Kirilenko. And for Aga it was easy street up until this match, but this one was far from easy and it was by far the toughest match of Radwanska's campaign so far, as Kirilenko went toe to toe with the Pole. Throughout the match, the two players shared breaks, and after Kirilenko levelled the match in the 2nd set, in the third it was even pegged again until 6-5, (popular score today!), where Radwanska made the key break and put out Kirilenko after nearly three hours with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win. This match was actually suspended after rain delays on Court 1, however most of the match did take place on Court 1, but once Vika and Tamira's match finished, they resumed play on centre court, where Aga won it. As for Radwanska well her chances of getting to the final are fairly good, as she will next face Angelique Keber, however her games lacks power, but what she lacks in power she makes up for in guile and ingenuity. So even if Kerber can hit Radwanska off the court, and blast winners past her, Radwanska can still out-think her opponent on the court, so it will be an intruiging match to watch, so we will see who comes out on top. Its also Radwanska's first grand slam semi final, so we will see if she can make it through to the final.
So now onto the men's matches briefly as played was carried on from yesterday after the rain delays. Starting with Andy Murray who had to finish off his match with Marin Cilic, and he picked up right where he left off, after going a set and a break up, Andy went on to break Cilic again to go to a 2 sets to love up lead. After another rain delay, the two men went back out on court, and in the 3rd set, Cilic had no answer for an impressive and aggressive Murray, who fired winners left and right, and even served brilliantly, as well drawing errors from Cilic. And before we knew it Andy wrapped up the match in the nick of time before anymore rain delays, in a very convincing fashion with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win. After the setback in form of his Baghdatis match, this saw Andy get back on track as after he overcame a cagy first set, he produced a terrific performance for the crowd, and again he found his first serve!! In fact Andy managed to get his first serve percentage up to 68%, which was really impressive, but he will need to keep it at that for the remaining time he has in the event.
Which brings me on to David Ferrer and Juan Martin Del Potro match that was held on centre court, and on paper it sounded like a tough one, but it turned out to be a real walk in the park (or court) for Ferrer, who just totally outplayed Del Potro throughout. Ferrer played with terrific pace and while his shots didn't have the outright power of Del Potro's, Ferrer was able to run rings around Delpo and take advantage of his lack of mobility. And it wasn't before long that Ferrer raced past a sub-par Del Potro in just about two hours with a very convincing 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory. This really is a scarily good result from Ferrer and it makes you think that his next upcoming opponent, Andy Murray will have quite a bit to think about, but more on that in a bit.
As for other men's matches, with rain delays affecting the outer courts, the other men's 4th round matches eventually managed to get complete. Starting with Tsonga who played Mardy Fish, and despite losing the first set to Fish, Tsonga was the stronger of the two players, as he won the next three sets to secure his place in the quarters, after a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. Florian Mayer also upset Richard Gasquet, both men were looking to get to their first quarter final at Wimbledon, but it was the German who made it through with a 6-3, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory, and Mayer will now face Djokovic in the quarters.
So that is the men's quarter finals matches all set up for Day 9, which will see Roger Federer take to centre court first against Mikhail Youhzny, followed by Andy Murray and David Ferrer. On Court 1 for a change, Novak Djokovic will play Florian Mayer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Philipp Kolschreibber.
And naturally the pick of the day out of that lot for me is Murray and Ferrer, who will face each other for the 2nd time this year in a grand slam. Last time Ferrer emerged victorious at the French Open, a surface, which Andy had never beaten Ferrer on, so he wasn't expected to win it. However this is quite a different kettle of fish (or grass really!) and the two players have never played each other on grass. And given Andy's form at Wimbledon I think that he might possibly have the edge to beat Ferrer this time round, as Andy's game is also better suited to grass then Ferrerr's is. However Ferrer has been playing great at Wimbledon so far, so to write him off would be mad, and if any one could upset Andy before reaching the semis, it would be Ferrer. But I sincerely hope that Andy does win his match against Ferrer, as I would rather see him with a shout of getting to the final any day over Ferrer. And Andy will have the home crowd support behind him as well, and I think with Rafa out, he is more hungry than ever before for victory at his home slam, so I might be wrong but I don't quite see Ferrer beating him. So if I were to make a guess on the outcome of the match I think Andy will win it in 4 or 5 sets. However given Ferrer's form so far, I could also see a possible upset on the cards, so Andy will have to play very well to get past him.
Failing that if Andy doesn't get through, I hope one of my favourite players, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has a chance of reaching the final, as he's a terrific player, big game, big serve and also a very flashy player. But he's also deservedly a world class player who really deserves his place in the Top 10, but we'll see how his match progresses today. But I'd rather have the Muzza in the final any day, failing that though Tsonga would be my next choice, as he has the potential to really give Djokovic a match in the final.
Right that's enough for one night, I will report back once Day 9's action is finished.
Byeeeeee the nowww.
No comments:
Post a Comment